KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Another great night of racing was highlighted by Rico Abreu winning the 410 feature on Weiler Salute to the Lasoski Family Presented by Iowa Lottery Night at Knoxville Raceway Saturday.
The St. Helena, California driver worked his way forward from row four to claim his 11th career victory here.
Brian Brown won an emotional 360 main event, with grandfather George Lasoski and uncle Danny Lasoski by his side on a night honoring the family. It was his 14th 360 win here, tying him for fourth on the all-time list with Randy Martin. 102 cars entered in the two classes.
The 25-lap Leighton State Bank 410 feature saw Brown leading from the pole, ahead of Chris Martin, Kerry Madsen, Austin McCarl and Daison Pursley. Abreu entered the top five on the fifth lap, and began reeling in McCarl.
Martin was hanging close to the leader as the pair entered lapped traffic on the tenth circuit. A lap later, Abreu passed McCarl for the fourth spot, and on lap 16, he worked by Madsen to enter the top three. Two laps later, both Abreu and Madsen shot by Martin to claim second and third.
With five to go, Abreu had a great run on the low side of four and passed Brown for the lead. Aaron Reutzel entered the top five at the same time.
Abreu pulled away from there, with Brown holding down second, ahead of McCarl, who passed Madsen late for third. Reutzel was fifth.
“You never know how these things will turn out,” said Abreu. “It shows you how unpredictable sprint car racing is. Twenty-five laps non-stop…you just have to catch your wind. These are such confidence boosters as a racecar driver, just to come from High Limit races over the last few weeks. On the final night, we missed the feature at Port Royal, another half-mile, so I was really eager to get here and redeem myself. (In regard to passing Brown) I just didn’t want to have to pay the $5,000! What a great effort from Brian Brown to put something up with short notice for the Lasoski Family. I always mark this race on my calendar. I consider it a tune-up for the Knoxville Nationals. It’s just so cool to see George down in three and four, and Danny’s success here and Brian’s.”
Joe Beaver came to a stop before the 20-lap Randall Roofing 360 feature got a lap in. He restarted at the tail. Once green, Cam Martin jumped out to the lead, ahead of Brian Brown, Chase Randall, Corey Day and Riley Goodno. Goodno worked under Day for fourth on lap four.
On lap five, Kade Higday passed Day to move into the top five. Martin was in lapped traffic with Brown in pursuit by lap seven. A lap later, Day stopped with a flat right rear.
The restart saw Martin ahead of Brown, Randall, Goodno and Higday. Higday quickly grabbed fourth from Goodno.
On lap 11, Brown’s solid run on the high side saw him drive by Martin to take the lead, but a lap later, Martin got back by. At the same time, Ryan Timms, who started 14th, moved into the top five.
On lap 16, Martin bobbled a bit in turn two, and Brown used his momentum down the backstraight to slide by, and take the point for good as Randall followed him into second. Higday’s fourth place run came to an end at that point with a blown left rear tire.
Brown paced the four-lap dash to the finish, followed by Randall, and hard-charger Timms, who made a pass of Martin for third late. James McFadden was fifth.
“This is great!” said George Lasoski. Brown added, “This is pretty special. That number (Brown was No. 33, the Lasoski family number) to you guys is just a different number, but to me it means something. That’s my family’s number. To win it with my grandpa, Danny, my mom, my dad, stepdad, stepmom, my sister, and everyone here, it means a lot. I felt like I gave it back to Cam. He did a good job. I gave the bottom back to him, and he nearly snuck it away from us. I just dug deep, and thought to myself to make that 33 proud, try to run different lines and run a smart race. I want to thank all you guys for coming out. This is special for my family.”
